1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a golf club, and in particular to a golf club that may prevent breakage of a shaft without increasing the mass of the club.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to maximize carry distance of a hit ball, various golf clubs with a small mass which typically include a lightweight shaft have been proposed. Unfortunately, since such a lightweight shaft usually has low strength, the shaft may break when hitting the golf ball. Furthermore, in a golf club with a tubular hosel into which the lightweight shaft is inserted, the shaft tends to break at or near the top end of the hosel when hitting due to a large bending deformation occurring thereto.
The Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-119623 discloses a golf club that includes a golf club head being not provided with a tubular hosel. Since such a golf club tends to have low bonding strength between the shaft and the golf club head, it might be difficult to expect satisfactory endurance.
The Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-248184 discloses a golf club shaft that includes a tubular shall main body having a tip end and a reinforcing pipe inserted into the shaft main body. Since the pipe continuously extends upwardly from the tip end of the shaft main body, it may increase the total mass of the golf club.
The Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-177417 discloses a golf club that includes a golf club head, a shaft, and a tapered ring for precisely centering the shaft into a shaft insertion hole of the golf club head. Unfortunately, the golf club may not be expected offering a feature to prevent breakage of the shaft.
The Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-104275 discloses a golf club shaft that includes a tubular shaft main body, and a core inserted into the shaft main body. Since the core continuously extends upwardly from the tip end of the shaft main body, it may increase the total mass of the golf club.